United Nations Radio

UN officials are continuing to speak out on rising global food prices.

The UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, both urged support for the World Food Programme's emergency appeal for an additional $500 million to feed hungry people around the world. The World Food Programme says it has updated its estimate to a 55 per cent rise in prices since last June, compared to a 40 per cent increase as of February. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said on Monday that steps must be taken now to ensure the world's food security. Through his spokesperson Michele Montas, he said the rise in prices cannot be attributed only to the trade-off between biofuels and agriculture, but has many causes:

"High oil prices have increased production and transport costs. Worldwide food production has been affected this year by droughts and other natural disasters. Economic growth has increased consumption, especially in Asia."

The first step, according to the Secretary-General is to meet urgent humanitarian needs. Longer term, he urged increased production and improved market efficiency.

For United Nations Radio, I'm Dianne Penn.